Living through a global pandemic as high schoolers has proven to be a very difficult task; a task made incredibly more difficult as the recovery progress is hampered by the disregard of proper precautions. 

Wearing masks in the correct manner is significantly impactful and essential to the overall safety of our community as a whole by preventing the further spread of COVID-19. For this pandemic to come to its end, the least we as a student body can do is to do our part in keeping ourselves and others safe and healthy.

I, and many others, do my absolute best to contribute all I can to the overall safety and well-being of our community. Wearing masks properly is one of the best and most important ways we can contribute to the fight against this pandemic. When asked what their opinion on the impact of wearing masks properly was, Myles Cerkic (‘23) says “wearing masks is about trying to keep yourself and others safe”. Aurelia Stokke (‘24) had something similar to mention on the topic, saying that “it’s important that people wear masks so that they can protect the safety of our community” while expressing the fact that masks are not just for your own safety, but for public safety as a whole.

When asked how it made them feel to see others wearing their masks improperly, Cerkic says that “it feels so disrespectful to those who genuinely want to keep themselves safe” and that they feel “anxious walking through a crowd of people” due to the vast numbers of masks either removed or below the nose. Stokke says that it makes her “kind of uncomfortable” and “a bit on edge” when surrounded by people with their masks pulled down. Wendy Wands, a member of the Bothell staff, had something to add to this as well. She remarked that, “[t]hey don’t understand that COVID is still real and out there […] I’m fully vaccinated and I’m still at risk for getting COVID.”

Properly wearing a mask —not pulled down to your chin, not pulled underneath your nose— is an incredibly simple task. If, while you talk, your mask slides down, simply pull it back up. If you’re taking a sip of your water, put your mask back on once you’re done. It’s such a small act to make for the safety of you, your friends, your family, and our community as a whole.